Monday, January 30, 2006

If you'll recall, I was supposed to be doing more or less weekly updates of the top Oilers prospects. It has been about a month and a half since the last one. I was...indisposed. Whatever.

Marc-Antoine PouliotGP:47 G: 9A: 20Pts: 29

Notes: I would have sort of hoped that Poutine would have had more points by now, but to be fair, he is in the top 20 (number 19, in fact) for rookie scoring in the AHL, and he's second on the Bulldogs in terms of points (seventh in PPG, slightly more important when people get called up and such), playing well enough since last I updated to get a regular spot on the shootout squad. That bad news? He's -9, which isn't the worst on the team (Danny Syvret is -15, though he's not the worst, either), but there are pluses, and he's not even close to that. Current grade: B-

Robbie SchrempGP: 38G: 38A: 65Pts: 103

Notes: This past Saturday, Schremp recorded his 100th point in only his 37th game, putting him in between Jim Fox and Andrew Brunette as the fourth-fastest player to score 100 points in the OHL. Not exactly elite company, I guess (who the hell did Jim Fox even play for?), though the list also includes, from top down, Bobby Smith, Wayne Gretzky, Fow, Robimus, Brunette, Doug Gilmour and Canadiens' prospect and current Hamilton Bulldogs points leader Corey Locke. His OHL season has been far better than his WJC performance, although the knock against him during the tournament was more or less the knock against most of the American forwards: skilled, but had trouble creating things in traffic. But yeah, back to his regular league, he's shown enough defensive prowess to earn a regular spot on the PK, and was even blocking shots(!) in their last game, apparently. Sounds like an Oiler to me. Grade: A

Andrew CoglianoGP: 24 G: 11 A: 13Pts: 24

Notes: Second on his team in scoring! Leading NCAA rookies! Five points in the WJC, including two assists in the championship game! He looks pretty good, and he looked pretty good on one of the top-two lines during the tournament, which is the only chance I got to actually see him play. And given that the Michigan weekly release is an impenetrable fog of Red Berenson and tidbits, that's about as good as it get. Grade: A

Wait--you're nominating Billy Smith for the pantheon of Oiler villains? You don't suppose this actually has to be put to a vote, do you? When Smith dies, the headline is going to be "WORLD'S SHITBAGS MOURN THEIR FALLEN LEADER".